Thursday, August 27, 2009

And they all lived happily ever after...

I don't think I shared this (since I haven't been blogging very regularly), but for Father's Day (waaaay back in June) we got my husband a dog.

Not just any dog.

A beagle.

Have you ever seen the movie "Underdog"? Well, in the movie, underdog is a beagle. Yep. We got Underdog. A bumbling, mess-making catastrophe of a dog who means well, but is just one sandwich shy of a picnic.

We have tried for three months to housebreak this dog (well, technically, since she was born May 10th, she's still a puppy) with no luck. We'd let her outside to play and she'd have a ball, then run to the door begging to come inside, only to find a good clean spot to squat and pee on my carpet. Every. Time.

So since I was tired of cleaning pee and poop stains, we made ready her new home outside in our fenced in yard. I worried about her because she was only three months old and I wouldn't put a defenseless child in the yard at three months old, but hubs assured me she could take it. She is, after all, a D-O-G. (Just don't tell her that).

I was really concerned I'd have to buy a carpet tile to lay outside for her to poop and pee on, since she obviously prefers carpet to grass. However, I am happy to report that she has had absolutely NO trouble adjusting. My training skills are obviously lacking in the potty-training capacity.

Oh, we did have some incessant bawling and squawling cries of "you don't love me anymore!" and "why'd you put me in this hot, dark place without any human contact?" in the beginning (usually at night when our neighbors were trying to sleep), but I'm happy to report she's now doing just fine.

And I haven't stepped on one wet spot since we put her out. There really IS a "happily ever after" after all.

5 comments:

I've read (and its been my experience that its true) that its not physically possible to housebreak a dog under four months. They are like human kids in that their bodies have to reach a certain level of physical development.

This is why we don't have inside pets. It always sounds like such a good idea before you do it, but it is so hard and I can't STAND pee in the carpet! (not that anyone likes it, I know). But I'll bet the kids love him. Those are the most adorable dogs. Lisa~

We had a beagle for awhile. He was the most stubborn, hard to train dog I had ever met. He finally found a new home with someone who has a lot more patience and a lot more room for him to roam, which is what he apparently wanted to do all along.